O'Hara willing to take pay cut

Portsmouth midfielder Jamie O’Hara admits players’ wages often match their spending and says a possible pay cut could hurt some members of the Fratton Park dressing room.

The club’s administrator Andrew Andronikou announced that 85 members of staff, including director Mark Jacob, were being made redundant on Wednesday.

They were followed out of the door by chief executive Peter Storrie, who announced he was stepping down on Friday evening following fierce criticism from supporters.

Pompey have already closed their stores in the town’s Cascades shopping centre and Westbury Mall, Fareham.

And there have been suggestions certain players may be asked to take pay cuts to help secure the club’s future.

O’Hara, who is on loan from Tottenham until the end of the season, says he would agree to a reduction if necessary.

But, despite the huge salaries earned by Premier League players, he says Pompey should take care over making any cuts.

He said: “If it’s something everyone has to do, then it’s something everyone has to do.

“On another level, every person lives to their means and people have to look after their families.

“Footballers earn a lot of money, but they also spend a lot of money because that’s what they earn.

“People have to look after their families and that’s something they will have to look at.”

While some have questioned why members of the playing squad have not been laid off, O’Hara feels the squad should be kept together.

But he admits it has been hard to see the people who have supported the side behind the scenes lose their jobs.

He said: “Players are the main priority because you can’t play without a team. But, on the other hand, it’s difficult to see friends you have made losing their jobs.

“It has been such a difficult time but I think everyone involved in the club has been fantastic.

“It’s sad to see people go because obviously, the players don’t really suffer in a way. We all get paid and we still play football every week.

“It’s the masseurs, the tea ladies; they are the people this is going to affect in the long run. That’s the disappointing part of going into administration.

“I’ve spoken to a few people who have already gone and it’s disappointing because I’ve built up a great relationship with a lot of people here.

“We haven’t really got to worry because whatever happens, we get paid and we go elsewhere in the summer. The people here are the ones it will affect the most.”

With many Premier League players shielded from financial hardship by hefty pay packets, O’Hara admits Pompey’s woes have opened his eyes to the sport’s cash problems.

He said: “I’ve never been involved in something like this and it has made me grow up a lot.

“It makes you realise what actually goes on in the world because you can be in this little bubble as a footballer and not really know what goes on outside.

“There are a lot of clubs who are struggling and there are a lot of money problems within the game.

“It makes you realise that it can’t keep going on with this spend, spend, spend attitude.”